IKEA completes expansion in Stoughton

After completeing an expansion last week, the IKEA in Stoughton will be able to hold more of the ready-to-assemble furniture that the company has become famous for.

Staff Reporter

STOUGHTON – The seemingly endless rows of furniture in IKEA got even longer last week when the Stoughton store completed a 58,575 square foot expansion that had begun in September 2013.

The building, which sells the ready-to-assemble furniture that the company has become famous for, now features 415,575 square feet of retail space.

For those who have never been to IKEA, the store’s layout guides customers through a showroom where they can pick out the items they want to purchase by writing down the product name, aisle number and similar information.

After making their way through the showroom, customers arrive in the “self-serve furniture area” where they can find the items stacked along dozens of rows of shelves. It was in this area, where the recent expansion took place.

“We’re able to house much more stock in the store now,” said Laura Alves, the store’s local marketing manager.

As the northern most store on the East Coast, Alves said it was important to the company to be able to provide customers with more product at the Stoughton facility since it services such a large area.

Although customers can order items online, typically more product is available in store than on the web, Alves said.

In-store shoppers also have the benefit of being able to take items home with them that day rather than having to wait for them to be delivered.

On Saturday, the store was jam-packed as customers searched for their desired items among the towering aisles of boxes.

The newest shelves contained in the recently completed expansion were about half full as employees continue to stock the new space.

However, the empty spaces highlighted the skylights installed during the expansion, which flood the new area with natural light.

The expansion also provided the facility with the roof-space to install 1,248 more solar panels, totaling 51,516 square feet, this fall. The new panels will be added to the existing 4,220 solar panels on the roof.

When the project is completed, the panels will produce more than 1 million kilowatt hours of clean energy per year, the equivalent of eliminating the emissions of 158 cars or powering 105 homes.

Edward Donga may be reached at edonga@enterprisenews.com.

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